West Ham will host Doncaster Rovers on Saturday in the FA Cup fourth round, with either Manchester United or Liverpool awaiting the winner.
After David Moyes put out a strong side against Stockport in the third round, tough conditions and a poor performance only gave us a marginal victory against the non-league side.
That result may have been down to the conditions or complacency, but that means we have to be cautious when we face Doncaster on Saturday.
The winner of this tie will also face a strong fifth round team as well. The FA Cup draw held last week gave us either Man United or Liverpool in the next stage, depending on who wins that fixture.
Despite that being a potentially tough game we must still go into it full of confidence that we can pull off a victory and reach our first FA Cup quarter final since 2016.
Our luck in this historic competition hasn’t been the best, with our last win coming 41 years ago in 1980, courtesy of one Sir Trevor Brooking. Our last final came in 2006, and we all know what happened on that day.
However, this season promises more for David Moyes and the team. A good run of form has us 7th in the league table, two points off fourth placed Liverpool. The last time we looked this strong was when we reached the quarter-finals four years ago.
However, although we are expected to win comfortably on Saturday, we should not go into the game with any complacency. Some top flight teams suffered shocking results in the last round, with Crawley beating Leeds 3-0 and Blackpool beating West Brom on penalties.
Derby County lost 2-0 to non-league Chorley and teams like Brighton and Burnley had to rely on penalties to beat lower league opposition, too.
While Doncaster Rovers compete in League One, they sit fourth in the table after winning five of of their last six games. They also beat Championship side Blackburn in the third round, proving that they are capable of lifting their game against tougher opponents.
Around the same week that the FA Cup fifth round will be played, both Liverpool and United will be preparing for knockout rounds in Europe. With the Premier League title race heating up as well, this might be the best time to play either side.
In recent years, fans have seen the team embarrassingly crash out of the FA Cup against the likes of AFC Wimbeldon and Wigan, so Saturday’s game against Doncaster is a must-win for us.
With Liverpool or United waiting in the next round, our recent run of form should give us the confidence in these next two cup games to progress far in the competition.
